Did Araghchi’s tour signal leverage or isolation?
Behrouz Turani
Iran International
In Tehran, Abbas Araghchi’s whirlwind regional tour is being presented as evidence that Iran still has diplomatic options and regional leverage.
Iran International
In Tehran, Abbas Araghchi’s whirlwind regional tour is being presented as evidence that Iran still has diplomatic options and regional leverage.
But behind the official narrative, even Iranian media and senior officials are beginning to acknowledge a harsher reality: talks with Washington are stalled, allies are limited and the country’s room to maneuver is narrowing.
The reformist daily Shargh wrote on Monday that the visits revealed “clear signs of a deadlock in negotiations with Washington.”
In an interview with ISNA, Araghchi himself acknowledged that “the first round of talks in Islamabad failed to reach its objectives,” blaming what he described as “the United States’ excessive demands.”
Media in Tehran have portrayed Araghchi’s visits to Pakistan, Oman and Russia as part of an effort to break the impasse with Washington through regional diplomacy.
But leaks in US media suggest Tehran’s message remains uncompromising: end the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as a precondition for immediate talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
That demand underscores the gap between Tehran’s public message of diplomacy and the harder line it may still be taking behind closed doors.
The idea that Tehran can quickly repair relations with neighboring states also appears optimistic. Regional capitals still vividly remember Iran’s recent strikes on the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
While Tehran insists diplomatic channels remain open, only a handful of neighbors appear willing—or able—to engage.
Oman, traditionally a trusted mediator, may have less incentive to play that role after Tehran’s recent actions and amid Washington’s hesitation. Russia, meanwhile, is increasingly viewed with suspicion inside Iran, where critics accuse Moscow of exploiting Tehran’s isolation without offering meaningful support.
Yet despite the impasse, signs of a possible diplomatic opening remain.
Pakistan’s active mediation has positioned Islamabad as an important hub for indirect US-Iran communication, suggesting both sides still see value in keeping channels open.
In Washington, President Donald Trump’s recent references to an “agreement in principle,” including possible limits on uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief, suggest discussions may have moved from whether to talk toward what terms might be acceptable.
Economic pressure is also pushing both sides toward pragmatism.
In Iran, the economy is buckling under war, inflation and disruption to oil exports. In the United States, rising gasoline prices are creating domestic political pressure.
The so-called pragmatists in Tehran appear increasingly willing to pursue compromise to preserve stability. Hardliners, especially among a younger generation of officials, increasingly frame the conflict as existential and may see concessions as surrender.
If they conclude Washington’s ultimate goal is regime change rather than policy change, pressure could grow for nuclear escalation rather than restraint.
Washington’s insistence that Iran halt all uranium enrichment and remove previously enriched material remains a central sticking point. The Strait of Hormuz is another.
The United States has reportedly conditioned any pause in military action on the complete and safe reopening of the waterway. Any renewed Iranian interference with shipping could trigger immediate retaliation and collapse diplomacy.
Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear or leadership targets—or retaliatory actions by Hezbollah or the Houthis—could drag both Tehran and Washington into a cycle neither fully controls.
For now, the immediate question is no longer whether Washington and Tehran are talking. It is whether either side is prepared to soften their demands before events overtake diplomacy.
And in Tehran, where the costs of war are rising by the day, that question is becoming harder to ignore.
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.